F1 teams alerted as FIA announce new Chinese Grand Prix curfew

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F1 teams alerted as FIA announce new Chinese Grand Prix curfew

The Chinese Grand Prix is the second race of the 2026 season

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 11 March 2026 11:55

The FIA have announced a tweak to their F1 sporting regulations for the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

F1 heads to the Shanghai International Circuit this weekend for the second race of the 2026 season, after a thrilling Australian GP which saw George Russell take victory in a Mercedes one-two.

The second round of the 2026 F1 season is at the site of Lewis Hamilton's current only success with his Ferrari team, when he won the sprint race at the 2025 event, before he and team-mate Charles Leclerc were disqualified from the main race.

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And now, as tyre supplier Pirelli struggle with logistical challenges, the FIA have announced a tweak to their regulations ahead of this year's Chinese GP in Shanghai.

Teams have been informed that the 'restricted period one' of the Chinese GP weekend will be reduced by six hours for a maximum of six team members per outfit.

This means that up to six operational personnel will be able to be present at the circuit when other team members are completely banned, in order to complete tyre preparations.

Restricted period one is a period of time on the Wednesday of a grand prix weekend in which teams are under curfew, and operational and trainee personnel cannot usually be present at the track for 13 hours, until 29 hours before the start of FP1 on Friday.

For the Chinese GP only, the FIA have informed teams that this period will only be seven hours long for up to six team members.

Teams are allowed to breach the curfew for the first restricted period of a race weekend on six occasions.

A breach of this curfew for a seventh time at any grand prix weekend, which would include working on F1 cars or F1 car components during this period, would result in both drivers of the offending team having to start the main race from the pit-lane, as per the FIA sporting regulations.

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When is the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix?

The second race weekend of the 2026 season gets underway on Friday, March 13 at 3:30am GMT (11:30am local time), with FP1 being followed by sprint qualifying on that day, as part of an extended weekend that features two races.

It's the first sprint race weekend of the season, with the sprint race which was won by Hamilton last year having a lights out time of 3am GMT (11am local time) on Saturday, March 14.

The second grand prix of the season then follows on Sunday, March 15, with lights out at a more reasonable time for UK viewers of 7am (3pm local time).

It's going to be fascinating to see if Mercedes' rivals can hit back following a dominant season opener for them.

Ferrari certainly have a trick up their sleeve that might see them be able to do just that - the macarena.

F1 FIA Chinese Grand Prix